National test leaked onto internet

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For the second time in three days part of the national test for ninth grade (15 year-old) pupils has leaked in advance.

Karin Hector-Stahre, director of education at the Swedish National Agency for Education told The Local that the test is taken by "around 100,000 pupils".

Since the test can be delivered in advance to teachers who may need to adapt it for pupils with special needs, it is difficult for the education agency to pinpoint where the leak occurred.

But once the news was out, the content of the Swedish test quickly spread to teenagers all over the country via mobile phones and internet communities.

Earlier in the week a number of pupils were able to go into their reading comprehension test better prepared than they had any right to be.

And on Thursday many pupils will sit down to complete the essay section of the national test having had plenty of time to calibrate their prose. But the education agency has decided to go ahead with the test as planned.

"It just means that many of them have had more time to prepare," said Hector-Stahre.

Despite a strict set of guidelines for principals and teachers, this is not the first year that pupils have managed to feast their eyes on the national test before exam day. The education agency has already tightened security around the test but concedes that it will need to take a closer look at its procedures.

But not everybody is hoping for a clampdown. Markus Wiklund, 15, had a sneak peek at the test on Wednesday evening.

"I reckon around 50 percent of the pupils at my school have already seen the test. It can of course be really helpful for them. A lot of people are preparing by taking the test the evening before and then memorising it," he told Aftonbladet.

"The national test is part of the general assessment of pupils," said Karin Hector-Stahre.

"It is supposed to provide a support for teachers when they are giving pupils their final grade," she added.

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